Notre Dame Joining Big 10

     After nearly 2 years of speculation, and courting by virtually every major BCS conference, Notre Dame announced Tuesday afternoon that College Football’s most historic school will, effective the 2013 season, join the Big 10 conference in all sports, becoming the conference’s 13th team.

     Notre Dame president Paul C. Velasco released a statement Tuesday.   According to reports, the university will recieve a significant compensation from the Big 10 Network, and be permitted to schedule 5 non conference games per year in order to maintain several traditional rivalries, including USC, Stanford, and the 2 military academies.

     The Irish will begin playing a full conference schedule next year, and will maintain their automatic BCS birth should the meet specifications, thus offering the Big 10 the possibility of an extra slot in the BCS this year.